The return of tuberculosis

I do have to wonder about intent here because the revival of TB as a public health issue was a concern among community organizers and pubic defenders in Chicago back in the late 1980s and early 90s. There were some highly publicized public health studies in the 1980s about crack cocaine use making people more susceptible to infection by the TB bacteria. It was certainly a concern in the homeless shelters I volunteered in. We would hear stories about addicts going in for treatment for TB and then not following up as soon as they began to feel better. This would result in them coming down with a more virulent form of the disease. Public defenders worried because the meeting rooms they had in the Cook County Jail and the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center were very small and seemed an ideal place to spread the disease.

It was certainly a concern in the homeless shelters I volunteered in. We would hear stories about addicts going in for treatment for TB and then not following up as soon as they began to feel better. This would result in them coming down with a more virulent form of the disease. Public defenders worried because the meeting rooms they had in the Cook County Jail and the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center were very small and seemed an ideal place to spread the disease.